Before he goes into the water, a diver cannot know what he will bring back.
Max Ernst

My approach.

My coaching practice is born out of my executive leadership roles in finance, exchange traded derivatives and operational risk, and having spent 25 years at the forward edge of organisational development.  My a unique fusion of hard-earned experience, specialist knowledge and compassion makes me an ally for individuals and organisations navigating change.

It's a partnership. Together, you and I will make the space for you to dive into deeper understanding. In me you have an experienced ally to challenge and support you, to help you spot and to tackle your areas for development at work, to cut through to  strengths you've not fully understood, and release yourself from approaches that no longer serve you well.

As a supervised ICF accredited coach we may be working together as part of a structured programme sponsored by your organisation, or you may come to me independently for the short or long term. My role is to cocoon the coaching the space, be fully present while opening out new perspectives and to push you deeper into self-enquiry than you would get alone.

The process.

The first step is to have a chemistry meeting to see if we're a good fit for each other.  I'd also recommend you meeting around two other coaches as part of your own due diligence. I'm happy to source or recommend people to you if you want to explore beyond your own networks.

Should we both decide to take it further, we will then set out a contract together. This includes the nuts and bolts (number and length of coaching sessions, pricing, ethics and confidentiality) as well as any other conditions about to make this the right space for you.

My coaching programmes include, but aren't limited to:

1. Connected leadership. 6 - 10 sessions of 90 - 120 minutes. A leadership coaching package, usually sponsored by your organisation. Guided by context, and your own goals, we hold a three way contracting session with your organisational sponsors at the outset to understand their expectations of the investment as well as your own. Then we work in private, with you determining your goals and what kind of work you're able to do between sessions. There may be additional work we consider, including 360% appraisal, psychometric testing or specific coaching areas which involve particular skills such as presentation, voice coaching and storytelling.
2. Departures and arrivals. 4 - 6 sessions of 60 - 90 minutes, plus preparatory work between sessions. We explore the emotional, practical and other dimensions of your departure and how you'd like to leave the role or the organisation. What endings need to happen, what needs to be communicated to yourself and to others, and to what effect?  Then we explore arrivals - where do you want to arrive, how do you want to show up, what do you want carry with you or leave behind? We may use tools like timelines or the life wheel balance. It may involve articulating and working through loss, hope, sadness, joy, excitement, continuity and discontinuity in change.
3. Seizing the moment. Ad hoc sessions at key transition moments. For example, going on or returning from parental leave, shifting from a technical to a strategic leadership role, repositioning your presence, going for a big job interview pitted against external candidates, getting ready to set up and host a new self-help group, working through a complex work event and untangling the threads.
4. Teams and groups. Connected to our other learning programmes, such as #RemotelyHuman and Team Excelerator,  it can be extremely effective to combine individual and team coaching, either when an individual joins an established team, or when a team is being formed, reformed, or  dispersed. In this case we work from a proprietary 'Shared Intentionality Index', possibly supported by individual psychometric testing. This helps individuals get to know themselves well, connect this with insight into their team members and the team dynamic, and are able to express the latent failure modes that are currently present in the team or that could put the team at risk. This offer makes for impactful team coaching at any level in the organisation.
5. Rehearsal spaces. Often people need to take time out to find the story they want to tell, and the story is often somewhere a bit different to where they first thought it was. I can bring a long history of coaching individuals and groups in finding, rehearsing, and building ease, rapport and confidence in telling a story that will spark something into action, even in the stickiest situation.

Pricing  principles

Good coaching brings immense value to individuals and organisations and money should not be the ultimate barrier to it. I have selected capacity to work with individuals and public sector organisations for whom financial resources might be an obstacle.

Public sector organisation packages are at a discounted rate. Contact me to discuss.

If you are an individual, contact me so we can discuss rates and set up a chemistry meeting.

Private sector organisations can contact me to discuss fees and packages. Team and group coaching is priced on a case by case basis.

Testimonials

Victoria has been a joy to have as a coach, providing great understanding together with thoughtful questioning to help me gain new insights and perspective. She is full of amazing techniques and approaches which helped me identify my priorities, navigate significant change in my life and solve problems. For example, the SCARF model was a great tool for enabling me to broaden my focus, understand what drives me, and helped me make better choices about my future direction. Our coaching sessions were conducted through Skype, and while I was first apprehensive about this approach, I learned to like it. It required putting my ideas and mind maps in a way I could share them with Victoria, therefore creating ownership and clarity of thought. Victoria is a committed, skilled and challenging coach, and her support is well worth investing in.

I found the process Victoria adopted both highly engaging and useful; firstly, it was very much a conversation -almost co-production - of what tools and techniques might be useful and when. I found the combination of approaches helped to challenge and stretch my thinking at all stages, allowing me to step back from the day-to-day ‘busy-ness’ and consider medium and long-term implications.  The atmosphere created was supportive yet challenging throughout, helping me recognise and think through sometimes deeply buried assumptions about how I interact with, and relate to, people – particularly professionally, yet also personally. As we both observed, I sometimes disappeared down technical rabbit holes and Victoria – very gently – pulled me back out to address those underlying issues!  ... a thoroughly helpful and developmental experience – thank you.

Painting by Max Ernst Coquilles​